Imagine if your house was damaged as a result of being bombed in a military war. Now imagine if your house was bombed three times within a matter of years. Or imagine seeing your family and neighbors lying wounded and dying in the street of your hometown. These are the sort of mental health issues that residents of Iraq have to learn to cope with everyday. The question then becomes “Is the country equipped to deal with an epidemic of people who are experiencing mental illness?”
Iraq’s mental health dilemma
According to Iraq’s psychiatric association, Iraq has a mere 100 psychiatrists that must provide mental health care for a population that borders on 30 million [see PDF from World Health Organization]. And, even though the war appears to be winding down, there are more and more citizens of Iraq seeking medical treatment for their mental health issues that are a direct result of the war. The reality is that Iraq’s ability to deal with the onslaught of mental health patients lacks greatly.
As a result of this gross imbalance, Iraqis are turning to self-medication as a means of coping with the trauma they have suffered. Prescription drug abuse is currently the number one substance abuse issue in Iraq, and it grows by the day.
Iraq’s mental health needs on the rise
The country’s largest mental health institution, Al-Rashad, has had an increase of 10 percent in the number of patients, and they’ve had to turn patients away. Al-Rashad is a government-funded facility, and is the only long-term mental health institution in Iraq.
As more and more citizens of Iraq search for help in dealing with their emotional and physical scars, it appears that the mental health community will struggle to find ways to help and accommodate them.
The torch of the state of the United States health care system has been passed, and it has been passed to Kansas Govenor Kathleen Sebelius. A Democrat, Sebelius was President Obama’s second choice for the position, and she received the call to duty after the first choice, Tom Dachle, withdrew his name after revelations about his sticky unpaid taxes. The nomination came during the first week of March in 2009, and Sebelius said it was a responsibility that she could not refuse. Who is this new face in Obama’s administration, and how will she go about tackling one of the largest crises facing our country right now?
Fortunately for Sebelius, things can’t get much worse than they are right now. That probably isn’t much of a comfort to her though, as the task she’s facing is definitely a formidable one. With the health care and health insurance system struggling with people getting turned away left and right for insurance, and the sick not being able to afford the care they need, things are in dire need of a drastic makeover. President Obama has said that he plans to release $155 million out of the $787 billion economic stimulus package to support 126 new health centers to give people more access to primary and preventative health care services. Many people have been comparing the changes Obama is gearing up for in the health care industry to those attempted by the Clinton administration, but the key difference is this: the recession America is in has everyone calling for change, no matter how radical it may have seemed years ago. Time will only tell how Sebelius is able to handle the massive task that lies ahead, but putting money toward opening new care centers is a good start. A good question to ask is: Are these centers aimed at only serving those who currently carry health insurance, or will they just be public service centers in which all comers can receive proper medical and attention?
photo credit: ProgressOhio
